Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing strategy

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A quick search on Google trends reveals that interests have been on the rise for content marketing since 2011. That has led to the need for an effective content marketing strategy.

content marketing strategy

This is not a surprise, in fact, the interest in content marketing will be on the rise for a long time, because according to research conducted by content marketing institute, big brands like P&G, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and John Deere, use content marketing in their organization.

Small businesses around the globe use it too.

For example, in Nigeria, Digital Marketing Skill Institute gets more than 90% of her monthly website traffic through SEO (content marketing), converts them to students (customers) through nurturing, and these visitors become happy customers that refer about 10% of each new batch of students.

They achieved this structure using content marketing – simple.

So Why?

Why do businesses big and small, local and international use content marketing?

Well, it’s answer is because it works, and that is why the result of google trends is not surprising.

However, what is surprising is that only about 30% of the organizations that use content marketing have a documented strategy.

content marketing strategy

Now that’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping that some would stick.

That’s a big deal and we need to fix it.

Today we’re going to walk down the road of understanding and developing a content marketing strategy that is not based on assumptions.

Do you have you already have a strategy?

Great, this post will move your strategy from good to Eureka!

But first, we need to clarify some basic concepts about content marketing strategy.

We need to learn and unlearn somethings that previously beclouded our mind on this issue.

Understanding Content Marketing Strategy.

Words like Content, Content Marketing, Content Strategy and Content Marketing Strategy, are familiar if you are a marketer or internet consumer.

I am sure you interact with these terms almost on daily basis, directly or indirectly.
In case you skipped it, I have written elaborately on content and content marketing here.

Today, we’ll focus on understanding the differences that exist in these closely related terms (content strategy and content marketing strategy), and then we’ll craft a content marketing strategy and document it.

So, the distinction is like a scotch egg,  ‘egg-roll’. One is the egg inside – content marketing strategy, while the other is the dough that covers the egg – content strategy.

Both blend together to produce a tasty ‘egg roll’. Without the egg, there’s no scotched egg and without the dough, there’s no egg roll.

content marketing strategy

I like to think of Content strategy as the bigger brother that takes care of the ins and outs, the why and how content should be created. It provides reason and serves as a wrapping to the content creation need.

Whereas, content marketing strategy looks at the steps that would lead to actual creation, curation, editing, targeting and distribution of content. Like the younger brother who does the actual work.

In a nutshell, both blend into a nice tool that aligns the business goals with exactly how it can be achieved.

Which is why I honestly see no need separating them.

A clear example that I love much was illustrated by MOZ, it says;

A content strategist might find that there’s a lack of trust between their company and their customers, suggesting a number of ways that trust might be built. A content marketer might do the work to gain that trust by featuring an interview with the company’s founder. See how these disciplines complement each other?

A lot of authors have explained these differences in their own ways, and yes you should know it.

However, I feel there isn’t much need for such confusions since they both blend into a strategic system that achieves the same goal.

For this post, we shall refer to content marketing strategy as our subject matter and stick to it.

We’ll explain what it means to have one and how to develop yours.

Alright then, let roll.

What is Content Marketing Strategy? 

Everything we do in marketing is a calculated action taken towards achieving an anticipated result, which often times, is sales.

So here’s the thing, you need to know what you are doing at every step of the way and what you are going to do should the previous step fail.

With content marketing, things can get really confusing, especially when the stats are just not turning up.

You are probably not getting the engagement, or your bounce rate is still high or you are not getting conversions.

These scenarios can be pretty daunting and for someone without a clear-cut direction on where he is going, things can get even uglier.

So we need a document that tells us what we need to do to reduce bounce rate or increase conversion as the case may be.

That document for short is your content marketing strategy. 

See another illustration.

I walked into the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, early hours of Friday,  the 01/09/2017.  It was the day scheduled for the first leg match between Nigeria and Cameroon, 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Series. This is what I saw. 

content marketing strategy

The pitch was empty, but there were goal-posts.

Like every competition, both teams that were going to play that day had the same GOAL- to pass more balls through the opponent’s goal-post.

The same way, your GOAL as a business owner is to make more sales than your competitors.

So, what happened? Why was the pitch empty? Where did they go? What were they doing? 

You probably have the answer now, right?

Yea

While the GOAL was set, the teams set out to train – prepare.  Each team with their coach sought the best ways to achieve their GOAL by scoring more goals. 

Each team independently sat on a round table, took training sessions in the field, drew out a modality and planned out how to win the match. That is Strategy.

If at the course of playing, things get messy and turn out unexpectedly unfavorable, teams would normally have a breakout session – halftime, where they went back to the strategy and see where they need to adjust.

Let’s get back to Uyo, a few hours later, the pitch was full, the game had started and FF 90 mins later the match ended with a 4:0 win in favor of Nigeria.

This clearly showed that both teams had a GOAL, but strategy and action plan is what makes one team score more goals and one team not scoring any.

Strategy and action is what makes the results possible – Divine

We know that strategy means “a plan, procedure, schedule, approach, blueprint…designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. ”

We also know that the aim of content marketing is to effectively build an audience that yearns for your brand, buy from you and build your business.

So, for this purpose, let’s define content marketing strategy as:

A Content Marketing Strategy is a documented approach to building an audience by creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract, educate or inspire strangers and turn them into happy customers.

Talking about Happy customers:

From our Football game, the result of the first leg match made so many people anticipate the second leg of the game.

We were entertained and so we wanted to watch more and more of such good football even if we would have to pay gate-fee.

The same goes for your marketing strategy.

If you put up a top-notch strategy, and you deliver quality and relevancy, your customers will anticipate your next content and even pay ahead.

A strategy is simply what you need to do to get to your goal.

so, does every business need a content marketing strategy? Is it documented or a plan you keep in your head? What if you are just a small business with few employees?

Well, for a small business or a one-man shop just starting up, you could get away with memorizing your strategy in your head or scribbling it somewhere at the back of an envelope.

But if you’re a serious business looking at long-term sustainability, then you need to develop a comprehensive plan — and document it.

Here’s why you need a content marketing strategy – documented.

  • A documented strategy gives you a feeling of confidence about how you intend to reach your goal.
  • With a documented strategy it’s easier to convince the CEO or other stake stakeholders to put in their money.
  • If you don’t have a strategy, how would you even know when you arrive your destination?
  • It’s easier to chart your success when you have a documented strategy.
  • Content marketing challenges don’t seem as overwhelming when you have a strategy in place.
  • Your content strategy helps you see clearly, avoid excuses, and remove distractions. It’s there to keep you accountable.

The impact of having a documented content marketing strategy is huge.

The sweet part is that it doesn’t have to be complicated.

By following few simple steps, you can have the most important document in your marketing journey right in your hands – created by you, today.

Let’s head right into creating your content marketing strategy.

Let’s Create a Content Marketing Strategy.

Like I said earlier, it doesn’t have to be complicated at all. Just take a sheet of paper and attempt answering the questions below. The result is your content marketing strategy – documented.

Ready?

1. Who is your Target audience? 

This question specifically describes the people that have the problem that you’ve got a solution to.

Example:

  • He is a Nigerian who would like to multiply the money he has by investing it.
  • She is in her final year at the university, hoping to get a stress free transcript from Nigerian university to Europe.

Even if your target is more than one, define all of them.

Don’t just focus on the demography like where they live, age, gender and all that.

Delve deeper into their head by taking psychometric considerations like why they want to change school, generally why they behave the way they do.

2. Who are your competitors?

Even if you have the best product in the world, you have competitors. Facebook, Google Amazon, Jumia and name all the big brands you know, they all have competitors. So do you and it doesn’t matter the size of your business. 

In developing your content marketing strategy, don’t ignore your competitors. Don’t copy them either. 

In this aspect of your strategy, you have a wealth of information to learn from your competitors, like what’s working for them and what they are ignoring. 

Highlight every entity that is capable of sharing your customers with you. Not just other businesses but also tools that might make your customers not use your product or service.

3. What’s your USP?

Good. Now you know your audience and you know your competitors. 

So why should your audience use you instead of your competitors?

A sub-question in this category is ‘Why should your audience care about you?’  

You need to define a Unique Selling Proposition.

Something only you can offer your audience in a way that is special to them.

Your USP can typically change as your customer’s behavior changes. The reason is that marketing is dynamic especially inbound marketing. 

You don’t want to keep interacting with your audience based on their behavior in 2005, you want to learn what they care about now and build your strategy towards it. 

New interaction = Old interaction + Reaction

 4. What doubts exist in your customer’s head? 

Your target audience is in a before state. A state where he’s pained, he needs something, he is just not happy with where he is. 

He wants to get to an after state. A state where his pain is gone, his needs are met, the void in him has vanished and he feels happy. 

But, it’s not so easy to carry this guy from point A to point B – even with the best product match in the world. 

Between this two points, this guy has some doubts. 

He may not trust you. He might your website is crappie, he might be looking for good reviews about your product before he buys, he might need to have a checklist of things to vet before he makes a buying decision. 

These are a few of the many doubts that this guy has. 

content marketing strategy

Your job as a content marketer is to clear all these doubts as fast as possible.

How? by answering their questions. You need to get into their head, hear these questions as they ask it and in the language they use. 

Get into search engines find out what they are searching for, read marketing insights, listen on social media, follow consumer behavior trends, join and participate in forums to learn what people are talking about and what they want. 

Also consider LinkedIn discussion groups, forums like Quora, or membership sites like Nairaland.

5. What have you done already?

Yea you thought right, I’m talking about a content audit.

What contents have you been engaging your audience with? Audit your website, blog, social media outlets and do an assessment of the contents you have been feeding your audience.

Sometimes you might even find an old piece of content that resonates well with your audience.

6. What’s the purpose of the content you’ll be creating? 

This is where you need to exhibit some discipline.

It’s not enough to have a great idea of what to write about. Take some time and define what that piece of content is going to achieve.

This, of course, has to align with your overall marketing goal.

This is the pivot and perhaps the most important question.

Is your content intended to drive sales? Generate leads? Build authority? Increase organic search traffic? Propose to your girlfriend? Push awareness? All of the above?

More than likely ‘all of the above’ is your ultimate goal, but each individual piece of content will accomplish a different task.

For instance, the purpose of a post you put on Twitter may simply be to drive more traffic to your website. But not to just any page on your website — a landing page specifically designed for that guest article. A landing page designed to convert those visitors into email newsletter subscribers.

Afterwards, you send them email newsletters designed to strengthen your relationship and educate them about your products or services.

Down the buying journey path, you can send them a sales email, this time, that is intended to make them buy.

So you see, once you understand the purpose of your content, it creates itself.

Once you understand the purpose of your content, it creates itself.

7. How often will you share?

Will you share contents daily, weekly or monthly? A large influence to answering this question is in measuring the resources you have.

You need to also learn your audience and understand how they consume the contents you put forward. 

Are the contents converting? Is your audience interacting with your posts? Do you get feedback and results? All these metrics will help you set a schedule for sharing.

It is important to note that consistency is a very stern part of content marketing.

When you find the right time and frequency for your audience, make it consistent.

8. What channels would you use for distribution?

A lot of work goes into producing a quality content. From Ideation to creation, it’s a lot not to take seriously.

O yea?

But what’s the use of a superb content if it’s never going to be seen. Truth is, content not shared is content ignored and that’s equal to time, money resources wasted.

Have you ever worked so hard on an assignment in school, did everything to make sure it’s the best the Lecturer would mark, only to proceed with submission and be told that time is up so it can’t be submitted anymore?

Yea that feeling is even worse with content marketing. Putting in your best into something nobody will see, honestly, it’s heart-wrenching.

Deciding the channels through which your contents will be shared is paramount. It’s as important as the creation process itself.

Don’t just default to any platform. Don’t pick the media you like, pick the media that will work best. Make an argument as to why this channel is best for this content. Are your audience there?

Is it social media? Which platform should you focus on – Facebook? Twitter? Linkedin? … Make sure you are sharing where your ideal customers are.

It is also important to decide whether you’ll be sharing manually or with automation tools?

Which tool? Hootsuite? Buffer? Sproutsocial?…

Think about your objectives in granular detail and what each channel and tool will help you achieve.

9. Who will be in charge of your contents?

Implementing content can be overwhelming sometimes

It’s important to outline who will be in charge.

Is it you? Should it be you? It’s true that this is your business, but it doesn’t mean you should shoulder every aspect of it.

Like Michael Gerber said in his classic book, The E-Myth, a business owner should be in a position to work on his business — not in it. Otherwise, you may find it difficult to grow.

You may need to hire someone manage your content marketing needs.

10. Who will create the contents?

You have aspirations for your business and you are very creative with them.

You want 10 explainer videos, 15 infographics for your blog in a year, 2 blog posts published every week, or even PRs on reputable media outlets.

Who will do the research, who will design and create them?

Do you know the run-to place to go to for resources?

Find the whos and write it down.

11. Who will maintain the contents?

A-hah!

Before you jump on the next bus going to Utonkon for your vacation because you feel you have created and published your content.

Wait a minute.

While it’s true that your content is created and is published. It’s very important to identify and assign who will maintain it.

Content on your website is like a flower, you have to water it.

Just as you are creating new contents, old ones are decaying away. Links become broken, facts become obsolete, topics tend to become irrelevant.

Who does this routine health check? Identify that guy and put a name on him.

12. Who is responsible for results?

A lot of Content Marketers are super scared of Analytics. They just don’t go well with the numbers. But that’s what makes a great content marketer – knowing the numbers.

That’s how you know the contents that are doing well and the ones not doing well.

You did a content audit in point number 5, you know where you were and you had set the goals you wanted to achieve, where you wanted to be. Who will be responsible for this?

Make sure these goals are measurable, achievable, and specific — and not ultimatums.

In other words, don’t say, “Don’t border coming to work tomorrow” if you don’t meet this. Allow room for mistakes, corrections, and growth.

13. What’s your center strategy?

All the other questions from 1 to 12 build up to this one.

This is about stating what you need to accomplish, determining the type of content that will help you achieve this goal, and creating a plan to help you accomplish it.

ContentMarketer’s core content marketing strategy is to:

Create an online castle where business owners and marketers in Nigeria, become successful in content marketing.

This will help inform every aspect of the content creation, the voice, tone as well as a plan to back up this strategy.

Alright, we are here! 

You’ve done a great job answering these questions! 

What if I tell you that you’ve also got yourself a content marketing strategy? 

O yes!!

What you have written down on paper is nothing short of a content marketing strategy. 

To reiterate your content marketing strategy effort, let’s go over some basics. 

Crafting a content marketing strategy is simple. It’s basically a plan that helps you focus your time, money and energy on the right things.
In fact, what we have done by answering the questions above is what it takes to have a strategy depending on the size of your business.

The most important place to start planning your strategy is identifying your audience.

Your audience is the most important element in your strategy. If you get this right, your strategy will be simple to craft. 

Now let me state: It’s going to take some research to pull out the answers to those questions. It’s worth it. Do it.

Once you’ve got the audience, you need to understand your content. These involve a review of your already existing contents and the lapses that exists.

That’s how you know how to improve on what and what to stop doing.

Here you will know what your customers already relate well with and what they don’t like much. Your job here is to create and distribute contents that resonate well with your customers.

The next thing is to measure your conversions. Ultimately, it boils down to this: how do you know if your content marketing strategy is working?

The answer is by measuring and looking at analytics data.

Check your conversions from your distribution channels, are you getting profitable customer actions on your contents? Do another content audit, that will leave you with a before and after report document. The difference is the result.

You will need to have a proper understanding of some analytics tools like Google analytics, kissmetrics, and many others to understand and measure content marketing efforts.

This aspect will be covered in subsequent posts.

Meanwhile, it’s your turn.

Do you have a content marketing strategy? Is it documented? Do you need a content marketing strategy?

Follow these format we discussed to develop your documented content marketing strategy today, and please give us your feedback, whatever it is,  we’d really Love to know.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

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